„We coexist with our past and memory. To live in exile means to park the memory, the own language and to live on one leg -- losing equilibrium, getting all hope towards future.“ Jitka Hanzlová
Jitka Hanzlová uses photography to address the ways in which one’s homeland and surrounding environment shape identity. After fleeing her native home of Czechoslovakia in 1982, Hanzlová has created an oeuvre that engages with notions of belonging and alienation, utilizing surprisingly varied subject matter.
Hanzlová’s work has been exhibited in numerous major institutions including Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh; National Gallery, Edinburgh; Mapfre Foundation, Madrid; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Barbican Centre, London; The Photographer’s Gallery, London; and Seattle Art Museum. Her work is held in the permanent collections of several major museums, including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum Folkwang, Essen; and the Fotomuseum Winterthur, among many others.
1958 born in Náchod/CSSR, Czech Republic
1983 Asylum in Germany
1987/94 Study of Visual Communication/Photography at University Essen, Germany
1994 Diploma
since 1994 working free on projetcs
2005/06/07 guest professor at Academy of Art Hamburg (HfbK) Hamburg, Germany
2012/16 guest professor at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Zürich, Switzerland
Solo exhibitions (selection)
2018
Museum für Photographie, Braunschweig, and Staedtische Galerie, Wolfsburg
2017
Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, USA
2016
Jiri Svestka Gallery, Berlin in collaboration with Kicken Berlin, Germany
2015
Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, USA
2014
Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
2013
Museos Gijón, Spain
MAI 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
2012/2013
National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2012
Fundación Mapfre, Instituto de Cultura, Madrid, Spain
Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan, Italy
Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, USA
2010
Kicken Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2008
KUB – Billboards, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria
Goethe Institut Riga, Latvia
2007
Kicken Berlin, Berlin, Germany
ZEIT LOS, FO.KU.S. Foto Kunst Stadtforum, Innsbruck, Austria
Art Foyer DZ Bank, Frankfurt, Germany
2006
Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
Galeria Raffaella Cortese, Milan, Italy
Galerie 20/21, Essen, Germany
MAI 36 Galerie, Zurich, Germany
2005/2006
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
2005
Jiri Svestka Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Kunstverein Arnsberg, Arnsberg, Germany
2003
Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, UK
2001
Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jiri Svestka Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Galerie-Edition 20/21, Essen, Germany
2000
Goethe Institut, Prague, Czech Republic
Grant Selwyn Fine Art, Bewerly Hills, Los Angeles, USA
Raffaella Cortese Galerie, Milan, Italy
Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc, New York, USA
Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
1999
Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc, New York, USA
Galerie Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium
Photomuseum Argazki Euskal Museoa, Zaratutz, Spain
Galerie Le Lieu, Lorient, France
Galerie EFTI, Madrid, Spain
1998
Galerie db-s, Antwerpen, Belgium
Goethe Institut, Budapest, Hungary
Galerie Marie-José van de Loo, Munich, Germany
Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
1997
Museum Schloss Hardenberg, Velbert, Germany
1996
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany
1995
Galerie db-s, Antwerpen, Belgium
La Maison de la Photographie, Lectoure, France
Group Exhibitions (Selection)
2017
Portrait II, Kunstverein Oldenburg
Das Abenteuer unserer Sammlung II, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, Germany
Seht, da ist der Mensch / Behold The Man, Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen
Magdeburg, Germany
Portraits, Fundación MAPFRE photography collection, Madrid, Spain
Notions of Home, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, USA
Umbrüche: Industrie – Landschaft – Wandel, MUT – MUSEUM UNTER TAGE, Stiftung Situation Kunst, Bochum, Germany
Other Pictures, The Photographic I, S.M.A.K. Gent, Belgium
2016
Mit anderen Augen – Das Porträt in der zeitgenössischen Fotografie, Kunstmuseum Bonn und der Photographischen Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur Cologne, Germany
LUX: The Radiant Eye, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, USA
2015
Faces.European Portrait photography since 1990, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam
Beastly/Tierisch, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
2014
Orte, Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, mit Laurenz Berges und Bernhard Fuchs, Frankfurt; Germany
Orte, Fotohof Salzburg mit Laurenz Berges und Bernhard Fuchs, Salzburg, Austria
Structures and Surfaces, Galerie Kicken Berlin, Germany
2013
No place like home, Kunsthalle HGN Dudenstadt
Artists for Tichy – Tichy for Artists, Collection Foundation Tichy Ocean, GASK Kutna Hora, Czech Republic
2012
Language Games, Centro de Artes Visuales Fundacion Helga de Alvear, Cáceres, Spain
Heimat - Fotografien aus der DZ Bank Kunstsammlung, Kunstverein & Stiftung Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen (bei Soltau)
Der Mensch und seine Objekte, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
best of ruhrgebiet, Galerie Frank Schlag & Cie., Essen, Germany
2011
Photography Calling, Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany
AIRES DE JEUX, CHAMPS DE TENSIONS, Pavillon Populaire Galerie d'art photographique de la Ville de Montpellier, France
2010
Ruhrblicke, SANAA-Gebäude (Welterbe Zollverein), Essen, Germany
Landschaft ohne Horizont, Stiftung Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau, Germany
World-Images 3, Heimhaus, Zurich, Switzerland
2009
Das Porträt. Fotografie als Bühne, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
Natures, Galerie Ilka Bree, Bordeaux, France
Degress of Stillness, Kicken Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Life is stranger than fiction, FO.KU.S Kunst Stadtforum, Innsbruck, Austria
Faces, Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca, Italy
Sehnsucht nach dem Abbild. Das Portrait im Wandel der Zeit, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems, Austria
2008
Stille Landschaften, Städtische Galerie Lüdenscheid, Lüdenscheid, Germany
Storie immaginate in Luoghi Reali, Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
2007
What does the jellyfish want? Fotografien von Man Ray bis James Coleman, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Hauptstrom. When The Clock Strikes Twenty, Kunstraum im Gewerbepark-Süd, Hilden, Germany
The World as One. Photography from Germany after 1989, Galeria Miejska Arsenal, Posen, Poland
Der Kontrakt des Fotografen, Akademie der Künste, Berlin / Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Hauptstrom. When the clock strikes eighteen, zone B, Berlin, Germany
Die Liebe zum Licht. Fotografie des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Blicke, Passanten - 1930 bis heute. Aus der Fotosammlung der Albertina, Albertina, Vienna, Austria
The World as One. Photography from Germany after 1989, Galeria Miejska Arsenal, Posen, Poland
2006
In the Face of History: European Photographers in the 20th Century, Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
Die Liebe zum Licht - Fotografie im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert, Städtischen Galerie Delmenhorst, Delmenhorst, Germany
Portrait und Menschenbild - Sonderschau der Photographischen Sammlung anläßlich der diesjährigen ART COLOGNE, Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur Köln, auf der ART COLOGNE, Cologne, Germany
The Photogeny of Identity / Memory of Czech photography, PHP - Prague House of Photography, Prague, Czech Republic
Could Have Been the Weather, Tatar Gallery, Toronto, Canada
European Eyes on Japan, Kunstmuseum Gifu und Hida Museum, Japan
ART’FAB - Women of Europe / Femmes d’Europe à Saint-Tropez (part of the first edition of «The Cultural Summer» of Saint-Tropez), La salle „Jean-Despas“, Saint-Tropez, France
Portrait und Menschenbild, SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
2005
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Sammlung Olbricht, Museum Morsbroich, Germany
Donna Donne, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
Japan Today, Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Kanagawa Art Foundation, Kanagawa, Japan
Nach Rokytník. Die Sammlung der EVN, MUMOK Museum of Modern Art, Ludwig Foundation, Vienna, Austria
Der Traum vom Ich, der Traum von der Welt, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Femme, Musée Carouge, Geneva, Switzerland
Czech Photography of the 20th Century, Museum of Decorative Arts, The Prague City Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2004
Pingyao International Photography Show, Pingyao photography festival, Pingyao, China
Moscow House of Photography, Photography Biennale, Moscow, Russia
Secrets of the `90s, Museum foor Moderne Kunst Arnheim, Arnheim, Netherlands
Die Welt als Ganzes, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico
Yet Untitled. Sammlung Bernd Kunne, Det Nationale Fotomuseum, Copenhagen, Denmark
2003
Portrait Photography, Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Citibank Photography Prize 2003, The Photographer`s Gallery, London, UK; Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany; Fundación Carlos de Amberes, Madrid, Spain
Afternoon Delight, Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, USA
INNATURA, X Bienale Internazionale di Fotografia, Torino, Italy
2002
Contemporary Art Project, Seattle Art Musem, Seattle, USA
Menschen-Bilder, Galerie Monika Reitz, Frankfurt, Germany
Fusion Cuisine, Deste Fondation, Athens, Greece
About Face, Gallery Yencey Richardson, New York, USA
Overnight to many cities, The Photographer´s Gallery, London, UK
The Brixton Studio, The Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK
2001
I Love New York, Benefit Exhibition WTC, Klemens Gassser, Tanja Grunert, Inc, New York, USA
Instant city, Museo Pecci, Prato, Italy
About the Bayberry Bush, The Parrish Art Museum, Southhampton, UK
2000
There is something you should know. Die Sammlung der EVN, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Schnitt 2000, Kunstverein Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany
Die Welt als Ganzes, SK Stiftung, Cologne, Germany
The City Bank Privat Bank Photography Prize 2000, The Photographer´s Gallery, London, UK
Das Versprechen der Fotografie, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany
1999
Positionen der 90er Jahre aus der Sammlung Künne, Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg, Germany
Another Girl, Another Planet, Lawrence Rubin, Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York, USA
Schön ist es auch anderswo, Rheinisches Industriemuseum Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany
near and elsewhere, The Photographers Gallery, London, UK
Stadtluft, Kunstverein Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
1998
Women, Galerie Klemens Gasser und Tanja Grunert, Cologne, Germany
Portrait, National Technical Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
1996
de jeunes, Galerie Poirel, Nancy
European Photography Award 1995, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Germany; Photo Festival, Arles, France
Manifesta I Rotterdam, Museum Chabot, Rotterdam, Netherlands
1995
Traingonales, la Galerie du Chateau d´Eau, Toulouse, France
European Photography Award 1995, Englische Kirche, Bad Homburg, Germany
1994
im fremden land, Goethe Institut, São Paolo, Brazil
1993
Europese Ofenningen, Galerie db - s, Antwerpen, Belgium
1992
Czech Photography in Exil, Mánes, Prague, Czech Republic
Awards and Grants
2007
Paris Photo Prize for Contemporary Photography, Paris, France
2003
Grand Prix Award - Project Grant 2003, Arles, France
1998
Scholarship, Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur des Landes NRW, Dusseldorf, Germany
1995
European Photography Award 1995
1995
Scholarship DG BANK Frankfurt, Germany
1993
Otto-Steinert-Award
Books
2017
COTTON ROSE, essay by Ulf Erdmann Ziegler, Steidl Verlag Göttingen
2015
HORSE, preface by John Berger, Koenig Books, London
2013
HIER, essay by Terezia Mora, Koenig Books, London, 2013
2012
JITKA HANZLOVA, text by Isabel Tejeda, Zdenek Felix, John Berger, Terezia Mora, Jesús Carrillo Castillo Fundacion Mapfre, Madrid, 2012
2011
Jitka Hanzlova/Annette & Rudolf Kicken Berlin, Cahier 2, essay by Janos Frecot, Rudolf Sagmeister, Kicken Berlin
2005
FOREST, essay by John Berger, Steidl Verlag Göttingen
2001
bewohner, Second Edition, text by Urs Stahel, Fotomuseum Winterthur
2000
FEMALE, text by Zdenek Felix and Peter Brinkemper
Schirmer/Mosel Verlag München, Deichtorhallen Hamburg
1999
Vielsalm, Sunparks Art Project
1997
Rokytník, text by Leo-Fritz Gruber, Museum Schloß Hardenberg
1996
bewohner, text by Gertrud Peters, Frankfurter Kunstverein